Spring is finally here! We are getting outside more now and enjoying the warmer days. Please

remember to send your kids to school with a hat and sunscreen. As well, a refillable water bottle

is a must!

Planning is underway for next year. IF you have a request in terms of the best match for your

child and a teacher, you can speak to your current child’s teacher and follow-up with a written

request to the principal. In the letter, it is best to focus on the qualities of your child and the

teacher traits that are the best match. It is not a request for a particular teacher as there are

always changes to assignments. We need to receive written requests no later than May 5.

The grade 3 and 6 students will be taking part in the Provincial Assessment of Reading, Writing and Math during the weeks of May 23—June 1, 2017. Grade 3’s will be writing the Provincial Assessment from May 29 - June 1 and the grade 6’s will be writing from May 23, 24, 25 and 26. Please do not book any appointments for your child during these two weeks as studentsmust complete the entire assessment.

Heather Gollob Heather PurcellPrincipal Vice Principal

Message From Administration

Eco-Friendly News

WISMER NewsletterF O L L O W U S O N T W I T T E R @ W I S M E R P S

Home of the Wolverines

A P R I L / M A Y 2 0 1 7

S C H O O L I N F O R M A T I O N

Wismer Public School 171 Mingay Avenue

Markham, ON, L6E1H8

905-471-5526

Mrs. Heather Gollob

Principal

Heather.Gollob@yrdsb.ca

Mrs. Heather PurcellVice Principal

Heather.Purcell@yrdsb.ca

Ms. Janice Leung

Mrs. Shenaz Sunderani

Administrative Assistants

Ms. Edda Dickinson

Lead Caretaker

Mr. Allan Tam

Trustee

Mr. Dan Wu

Superintendent of Schools

I M P O R T A N T D A T E S

H O L I D A Y S &

O B S E R V A N C E S

Apr 20—Ridvan

Apr 11—Pesach

Apr 14—Holy Friday (Eastern)

April 16—Easter Sunday

April 13- Vaisakhi

The eco-theme for April is reusable containers. Many Wismer PS students are already using reusable con-tainers, such as refillable water bottles, sandwich boxes, and lunch bags. We appreciate the efforts made by these students because they are acting in an environmentally conscious way. By choosing to use reusable containers, these students are doing their part to help keep garbage out of landfills and the envi-ronment cleaner. Go Wismer go!

Did you know? Plastic bottles can take up to 700 years to begin composting.

Earth Day- April 21

Junior- Intermediate Arts Night- May 4

School Council Meeting- May 17 7-8:30 pm

Grade 8 trip- May 24-26

Welcome to Kindergarten-May 25EQAO- Grade 3- May 29-June 1Grade 6- May 23-26

April 24- Miraj-un-Nabi

P A G E 2 W I S M E R N E W S L E T T E R

Junior-Intermediate Arts Night

PEANUT FREE / NUT FREE ENVIRONMENT

As a friendly reminder, peanut prod-ucts should be avoided at Wismer PS. There are students who have serious, life-threatening allergic reactions to peanuts called anaplylaxis. We are

also asking families to avoid packing lunches with peanut alternative products (e.g., soy-based prod-ucts) since it creates confusion about its safety in the school. Let’s keep safe Wismer!

Light it Up Blue @ WismerDid you know that that the United Nations declares World Autism Awareness Day as one of only four official health specific United Nations days? Around the world various landmarks are lit up in blue, including our very own CN Tower. On Tuesday April 4th, our school community joined the rest of the world to raise awareness for autism by Lighting It Up Blue! Our school wore blue to show our support for inclusion and embracing differences. The month of April continues to be Autism Awareness month. Way to go Wismer!

We are very excited for the upcoming junior/intermediate spring concert, A Festival of Arts, on the evening of Thursday, May 4th, beginning at 7:00 pm! If you are unable to join us for the evening performance, we will have limited seats available for the afternoon performance, beginning at 1:50 pm. Please mark this date on your calendars. We hope to see you there.

On Thursday, March 30th, we had the pleasure of having the high school student leaders from the First Nations, Metis and Inuit group to come and present a workshop for the grades 1 to 3. We learned a lot from the seven student leaders. We learned that turtles are very important in their culture because many North American creative stories began with a turtle. We learned that there are 13 scutes on a turtle’s shell, which corresponds to the 13 moons that First Nations people follow in their calendar. We also learned that the four elements (water, wind, fire and earth) match the medicine wheel. Some students also had a chance to try smudging, which is a cleansing ceremony. The purpose of the smudging ceremony is to cleanse, to remove any negative energy that may be present in a place, an object or a person. That is why many First Nations activities start with a smudge. It was truly an educational workshop for all staff and students on First Nations culture.

FIRST NATIONS, METIS AND INUIT GROUP VISIT WISMER

We will be inviting parents/guardians to participate in a survey May 1-19, 2017. This survey provides an important opportunity for parent/guardian voice. Results will be used to guide planning to support student achievement and well-being.You may complete the survey online or on paper. The online survey will be available in English. Paper surveys will be available from the school office in English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Farsi, Gujarati, Hebrew, Korean, Punjabi, Russian, Sri Lankan Tamil, Urdu and Vietnamese. We value your input and encourage you to complete the survey. The information you provide will be anonymous, considered confidential and kept in strict accordance with all relevant legislation.

YRDSB SURVEY FOR PARENTS AND GUARDIANS

P A G E 3 W I S M E R N E W S L E T T E R

On Friday March 31, the junior intermediate choir attended Music Alive. They sang two amazing songs. One was called “Where Can We Find Peace”, which included students playing musical instruments like the elegant handchimes along with the piano. The members of the choir learned graceful sign language movements that amazed the audience. The second song we sang was “Clap Your Hands”. This song is a traditional folk song with rhythmic percussion instruments. The percussion instruments were the sweet sounding bells, maracas, and the tambourine. We also added energetic body movements like clapping and stomping.

These songs wowed the excited audience and the adjudicator. The adjudicator was moving around during both of the amazing songs we sang, which was rare for this to happen! This was a good sign because that meant she enjoyed our wonderful music. Ms.Kukla said “I could feel the joy of the music and sensed that the audience felt it too. Of that I was incredibly proud. We had worked so hard and our choir performed so beautifully!”

When we were at music alive we got … PLATNIUM!! The highest one! It was such an exciting moment! The members of the choir cheered as loud as they could and everybody had a joyful feeling. That was our exciting day at Music Alive! Thank you to Mrs. Lee, Ms. Kukla, and Mrs. Sisti for helping us to achieve our goal. We were even invited to Nationals again next year! Wismer’s choir is a great group to be a part of. We can’t wait to perform for our parents and friends at the spring concert.

By Kyra and Adora in 5K

MUSIC ALIVE

P A G E 4 W I S M E R N E W S L E T T E R

Grade 5 Realtor Fair!

By Nadira and Gabriel in 5K

Ms. Kukla’s class and Ms. Jones’ class held a Realtor Fair last week. on Thursday April 6th and Friday April 7th from 9:30 to 12:15. The grade fives began preparing in March for the realtor fair.

The purpose of the realtor fair was to teach us about house marketing, house pricing in real life, and to show us how to be persuasive and descriptive writers. We also used our measurement skills to calculate the perimeter and area of our houses. We created a lot of media products like business card, signs, slide shows, and listings for our houses. We dressed very fancy to show that we were professional realtors. Some people made extra things like look books and 3-d models.

A few classes came in and asked different question about our houses that we had to be prepared to answer. After looking at all the houses and hearing about their features, they had to make a choice about the right house for them and their family. The realtor fair was a great learning experience and it was really fun too!

Grade 5 Jones Realtor Fair

By: Kaitlin, Sabrina and Jamie

The Grade 5 Jones Realtor Fair was held room 210 by the wonderful grade 5 students and Ms. Jones. The grade 5 students worked very hard to make this all happen. Many classes and their teachers came to see the astonishing work that the grade students had created. All of this work took a long time to create. The second fair was held by Mrs.Jones class on Friday, April 7th. Each student had one house to sell and they tried their hardest to sell their house as many times as possible. All grade 5’s were assigned a partner to work with.

Several classes came to enjoy the Realtor Fair including Ms Tuminnari, Mr. Davis, Ms. Paul and many more. The principal (Mrs. Gollob) and vice principal (Mrs. Purcell) came to see the houses that were on sale too. Mrs. Gollob was particularly interested in a house being offered for sale by Ethan J. Unfortunately, a sale was not made. Later in the day the parents came to see what was going on. The grade 5 classes worked vigorously and sold many houses! Each Grade 5 student used different techniques to persuade their customers into buying the house that they were selling. A lot of them worked together to sell each other's houses and they inspired other people to work harder.

P A G E 5 W I S M E R N E W S L E T T E R

DROP-OFF AND PICK-UP AT WISMER PS

At Wismer PS, we put student safety first. We have changed our morning drop-off and pick-up procedures to make it even safer for students and families. Starting last year, we have designated a Kiss and Ride area—it is now at the front of the school in the bus loop area (please see map below). Here are some in-structions about using the Kiss and Ride:

How to use the Kiss and Ride? Open for morning drop off from 08:35—08:50 a.m. Please use the single lane in the Kiss and Ride Loop. You will be directed to drive to the end of the loop. ONLY once all cars are stopped, will students be able to exit vehicles. Once clear of students, vehicles will be waved forward to exit. Please exit to the right onto Mingay Road. Turning left from the Kiss and Ride will block others from leaving the driveway and will cause traffic gridlock.

Picking Up at Dismissal Time? Please note—the parking lot is open at the end of the school day. As always, please drive very carefully through the parking lot. Please be mindful of pedestrian traffic . We ask that motorists who park along the curb, remain with their cars while waiting to pick their child(ren) up. For those cars who are parked, you must go to the sidewalk area and escort your own children back to your vehicle.

Where to Park? Between 9:00 and 3:15 you are welcome to use any open parking spaces in the school lot. Please do not park in the Kiss and Ride loop at any time as it is a Fire Route. Cars parked there may be ticketed. The school lot will be closed from 8:30—9:00. Please use alternate parking available on Burr Oak Road. Do not park in the church parking lot as this is private property.

* Please make sure you are obeying all parking signs and traffic laws. When walking, cross at the lightsat Bur Oak and Mingay to ensure that our children are safe.

P A G E 6 W I S M E R N E W S L E T T E R

MAKING MATH CONNECTIONS AT HOME

As mentioned in the last edition of the Wismer PS newsletter, games and puzzles provide students with an opportunity to learn math. You’ll find on this page and the following page fun math activities to try at home. One activity is for primary grade students, and the other activity is for junior grade students. Please give each activity a try!

A Pocketful of Change (Primary Grade Students)

Where’s the Math? Children will explore a variety of coins, estimating their value and determining totals.

Materials a handful of change, pencil, paper, calculator (if needed)

Activity Steps 1. Take a handful of change with a variety of coins in it.2. Quickly estimate how much money is in a handful.3. Sort the coins into their appropriate values.4. Add up the amount of money you have.5. How close were you to your estimate? What could you buy with your handful of change?

Math Talk What is on each coin? What is the value? Why did you estimate the amount you did? Would you change your estimate? Why?

Hints for Parents Younger children may just sort the coins, then count the total number of coins. You can also alter what is in the handful of change, depending on your child’s ability level.

Extensions Make trades for coins. For example: I have 10 pennies. I can exchange them for a dime. I have 4 quarters. I can exchange them for a dollar.

Source: Home Connections: Primary Grades, by Halton District School Board Numeracy Team, 2001.

P A G E 7 W I S M E R N E W S L E T T E R

MAKING MATH CONNECTIONS AT HOME (CONTINUED)

Calculator Quiz (Junior Grade Students)

Where’s the Math? Using a calculator, students will solve riddles by exploring operations.

Materials pencil, paper, calculator

Activity Steps 1. Use a calculator to solve the number sentence. Then turn the calculator upside down to seethe word answer to the riddle. a. It’s the outside of an egg. 50 045 + 25 309 – 9 + 2000 = ? b. Mountains usually are this. 4300 + 400 – 100 + 14 = ? c. Bubble and steam! 28 432 ÷4 = ? d. It’s what a salesperson does. 3849 x 16 – 3849 = ? e. It’s good for a car. 1600 ÷2 – 90 = ? f. This person is in charge. 4 x 9 x 9 x 17 = ? g. To cry out loud 13 x 13 x 5 – 40 = ? h. Every garden should have one. 0.002 415 ÷0.007 = ?

2. Make your own quiz.(0 = O or D, 1 = I, 3 = E, 4 = h, 5 = S, 6 = g, 7 = L, 8 = B) a. Make up a word from the letters.b. Now make up a riddle.c. Last, make a number sentence that gives the riddle answer you want.d. Bring your riddle and number sentence to class.

Math Talk What was the most challenging step in creating your riddle and clues?

Hints for Parents Experimenting with whole and decimal numbers as well as the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) allows your child to develop a deeper understanding of number. Challenge your child by asking questions like the following: “What happens to the total (word spelling) when you add 1000? Subtract 300? Divide by 20?”

Source: From Esso Family Math Resources for Grades 2–5 Children and Their Parents, by B. Onslow and N. Chapple, 2004, pp. 71–72. Adapted with permission from the Esso Family Math Centre.